Well writing my first full fledged fantasy novel

[nadinbrzezinski]

the thing involves quite a bit of "prophecy" and of course you know the real problem? Writing good rhyme and meter.

Damn, my respect to you poets!

:-)

[Orrex]

1. Why does your prophecy need to rhyme?

A well-phrased cryptic utterance can be far more dramatically effective IMO than a couplet or a limerick.

If your prophecy is much longer than that (sonnet-length or so), then you're likely to lose the interest of a reader who (rightly or wrongly) identifies the passage as an excuse for the prose author to shoehorn in some of her (or his) poetry.

And if the reader does this, and the story later hinges upon the previously overlong poem, the reader either won't get it (at best) or will feel cheated (at worst).


My advice is that unless you've really got some mad rhymes for the house, keep your prophetic poetical passages to a minimum!

on edit: Sorry about all of the parentheses. I got a little carried away

[sybylla]

2. I like your advice, Orrex, and I second that.

Just play with the words, nb, and see what falls together.

[EFerrari]

3. Rhyme and meter can be fun to fool around with.

I hope you let yourself play. :)

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Hmm food for thought

I was considering using poetic forms, but may read a little of prophetic writing in prose.... such as yes the book of revelations and look for an effective form... as well as the Chilam Balam...

[Orrex]

5. Something else you might consider

After my initial reply, and more specifically after your follow-up, I started thinking about the Anglo Saxon Riddles, which may provide a useful example for you. Though cryptic, each had a right answer, even if it's wholly baffling to a modern reader. Additionally, while they're in verse-form, they don't rhyme or have anything resembling a modern meter.

Clearly you wouldn't want to use one of the existing riddles, nor would you want to translate your prophecy into Anglo Saxon, but their clever use of misleading languange (and ribald double entendre) may be informative.

Consider Riddle #23:

I am a wonderful help to women,
The hope of something to come. I harm
No citizen except my slayer.
Rooted I stand on a high bed.
I am shaggy below. Sometimes the beautiful
Peasant's daughter, an eager-armed,
Proud woman grabs my body,
Rushes my red skin, holds me hard,
Claims my head. The curly-haired
Woman who catches me fast will feel
Our meeting. Her eye will be wet.

Here's a hint--the answer isn't what you're thinking.

The Riddles are all over the internet and have been translated many dozens of times, but http://www2.kenyon.edu/AngloSaxonRiddles/">here's a good site if you're interested in perusing them.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. thanks, right now went back to the drawing board as it were

and doing more world building... and cosmology... what is a world without cosmology?

I mean magic is not just a extend hand and bolt leaves the tip of yer fingers... (unless playing DnD... and even there, the cosmology is extensive, not that the average player truly gives a hoot)

[Orrex]

7. Just remember not to overplay your realm's backstory

We don't need to revisit the minutiae of the centuries-old Marrow Wars every time some schlub enters a tavern. IMO too much amateurish fantasy fiction succumbs to the temptation to spell out every carefully crafted detail of the world when really a glancing summary would suffice.

So when Hilda the Wizard zaps her foe with a well-crafted fireball, don't feel the need to refresh the reader in the basics of magical thermodynamics!

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Agreed, but I do need a good time line

there is a reason for it... believe you me, the portals connect to this world, and humans have come from our world

So I do need a good SOLID timeline.

Hell, a whole section of the world is called, primarily, the Kingdon of Ionia... and some of the cities are Athens and Sparta.

Yes all historical references are quite on purpose... and thinking of bringing Solon back to life.

Also creating the world (using sci fi) is proving interesting, as I used a real system, Cancrii 55... and the moon around that jovian planet, that goes around the primary will make for interestng days... and nights... especially since part of the year you are behind the moon in eternal penunbra. This also means that my magical creatures have to also change in some forms, no you don't need in the novel to know the life cycle of the Kismet dragon, but I, as a writer, need to know the life cycle of the kismet dragon.

I also love to draw maps... of both the major sites in the fiction and the continent they seat upon.

It helps to orient myself into the world.

[Orrex]

9. Oh, by all means go ahead and flesh out the world's history!

I meant only that the whole history shouldn't be rehashed every time something happens on the page. Tolkien is the quintessential example of this, since he created an encylcopedic history of Middle Earth that provides a backdrop for the "current" events. But for the most part the story proceeds without frequent reference to what has gone before (except where specifically relevant).

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. For the moment doing an article for the gaming magazine on world

creation.

Touching on the major points, ranging from the need to a geographic background, to how the economy works.

I feel one of the mistakes many young writers make is seating down and writing but never really getting the backdrop done. And ten chapters in you can see plot holes

Hell, I got one person writing a novel that had so many plot holes from the POV of the economy that I could drive the Star Ship Enterprise and every other ship of the line of major settings through, plus mac trucks

The gaming magazine now has an article on the craft of GMing (or writing) every issue...